Louisiana Christian University welcomed nationally acclaimed Christian entrepreneurs and best-selling authors the Benham Brothers as keynote speakers at Thursday’s 2nd annual Dr. Maggie Martin Marketplace Leadership Summit.
Former professional baseball players turned entrepreneurs, identical twins David and Jason Benham have started dozens of businesses and hosted “Flip It Forward,” a 2012 reality show slated for HGTV. According to the Benhams, the show was canceled when activists pressured the network to fire them over their commitment to their Christian faith.
Choosing Christ over television fame, they have appeared on news programs on several major networks encouraging people to stand for what they believe, whatever the cost.
Today, the brothers run an online coaching series called Expert Ownership, where they train people how to serve God, thrive in business, and live a life of impact. They shared with the attendees at Granberry Conference Center their paradigms and principles to being successful in business while living your Christian faith.
“If you are a workplace believer and love Jesus, you are in ministry full-time,” Jason said. “You are on a mission, and your work is worship.”
Jason said these are the three paradigms to always remember.
“In the Bible, the word for work and worship is the same,” he said. “Now we have a sacred-secular divide. It was never supposed to be that way.”
Christians should be living their faith through the work God has called them to do.
The Benham Brothers shared four principles to live by, offering examples from their own lives.
- Be faithful in the little things.
David relayed the story of when he left baseball the only job he could get at the time to provide for his family was as a school janitor, and it was an incredibly humbling experience. He remembered something his minister father had always taught them: Do you love God for who He is or just for His blessings?
“I went from swinging a bat to pushing a broom,” David said. “I had to ask God for forgiveness.”
He said it was that faithfulness to be the best janitor he could be for that time that was the building block that ultimately started the Benhman Brothers company.
- Be an appetite creator.
Leaders create appetites in others, Jason offered. The most important appetite is courage. When you stand for God and what is right, it is contagious, and you encourage (create courage in) others.
- Always give more in value than you take in pay.
Doing just enough is obligation, David said. Everything extra shows the love of Christ.
- Be a chocolate chip in the cookie dough of culture.
Christians should be like chocolate chips in cookies. “We mix in but don’t blend in,” the brothers agreed on this. “Even when the heat turns up,” Jason said, “chocolate chips maintain their identity. When culture changes, you don’t.”
The Benhams mentioned the legacy of the Martin family and the RoyOMartin company as an example of how living out your faith in the marketplace can bless a family but also so many others.
“We need a move of God in this nation,” David said. “The problem today isn’t the presence of darkness, it’s the absence of light.”
Christians feel like they will be canceled or fired for standing up for what’s right in today’s marketplace, David said.
Speak the truth anyway, Jason said.
“If your theology is not your biography, it’s worthless,” Jason said. “Our greatest blessings are only found on the other side of our greatest fear.”
The Benham Brothers are the authors of several books including Expert Ownership, a scriptural manual for succeeding in business; Whatever the Cost, the story of dying to your dreams to live powerfully; and Living Among Lions, how to live like a modern-day Daniel in today’s Babylon.
The Dr. Maggie Martin Marketplace Leadership Summit was established through a generous donation by Natalie and Darryl Monroe as an annual spring event for business and industry leaders in Central Louisiana who live out faith in their workplaces. It was named in honor of Natalie’s mother, an outstanding community volunteer and philanthropist.
